THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 85 



iii the development of a hump in the nape of the neck or in the back of 

 the male, as in the sea bass, 



A change of color is also a very common feature, the male generally 

 assuming brilliant tints during the brief season which are not appre- 

 ciable at other times. 



It is difficult to say how long fish can maintain their ability of propa- 

 gation or reproduction, some forms, in all probability, being more per- 

 sistent in this respect than others. 



In conclusion, a volume could readily be written in regard to the pe- 

 culiarities of habit, condition, and relationship of fishes, but as the 

 present essay is intended more particularly as an illustration of the 

 fisheries of the North Atlantic, I shall now bring this portion of my 

 subject to a conclusion, and proceed to a more important division, 

 that of the methods, processes, and results of the fisheries themselves. 



II.— METHODS OF CAPTURE. 



A. — The fishing grounds. 



In the Western Atlantic there is a remarkable chain of submarine 

 elevations situated between the Gulf Stream and the east coast of 

 North America, and extending from the vicinity of Cape Cod to a 

 point far east of Newfoundland, a distance of more than 1,100 miles. 

 Many of these elevations are of large extent, and, together with others 

 of a similar character but comparatively smaller size that are nearer 

 the laud, lying inside of the main range, they constitute what are 

 known as the "banks" or the great fishing-grounds for cod (that is, 

 the various species of the Gadidce, of which the cod, Oadus morrhua, is 

 by far the most abundant) and halibut. 



For the better understanding of the relative position of the banks, 

 their importance, &c, the description will begin with the southwestern 

 grounds and proceed to the north and east. 



GEORGE'S BANK. 



George's Bank is by far the largest and most important fishing- 

 ground near the coast of the United States, and is second to none in 

 the Western Atlantic except the Grand Bank of Newfoundland. It 

 lies to the eastward of Cape Cod and Nantucket Shoals, and is seem- 

 ingly an extension of the latter, since the water is no deeper between 

 the southern part of the shoals and the western part of the bank than 

 in many places on it. As laid down on the charts the southern limit is 

 in 40° 40' N. latitude, although 10 miles south of that the depth of 

 water does not exceed 41 fathoms, and therefore the southern boundary 

 may be placed at 40° 30' and the northern at 42° 05' N. latitude. The 

 eastern part is in G0° 27' and the western in 00° 00' W. longitude, mak- 

 ing the greatest length about 130 miles from the northeast to the south- 

 west extremity, and the greatest width 05 miles north and south. The 



